Elspeth of Cavall
by kelbelz
Summary: Lord Wyldon's grandaughter wants to try for her Knight's shield. This story follows her adventures and experiences.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I am not Tamora Pierce, any recognisable characters and place are hers and much kudos to her.

"Oh please Grandfather; please let me train to become a knight. You know I can do it" pleaded Elspeth of Cavall to her Grandfather Lord Wyldon. Lord Wyldon sighed and frowned over the top of his reading glasses at the young girl who had so successfully managed to interrupt his morning tea.

"No now Elspeth, leave your Grandad to finish his tea before you start on with this page business again" scolded Amy, an elderly lady who had been Elspeth's nanny since birth and mother figure since her own parents had died.

"There'll be no keeping her quiet any longer Amy, she's been at it all week trying to convince me to let her go, but it's going to stop now" said Lord Wyldon firmly as he set hi cup of tea on the table and removed his reading glasses. Elspeth paled at the stern look on her grandfather's face, but stood her ground bravely. "Oh Gods" she thought, "here we go".

Wyldon thoughtfully considered the young girl standing in front of him, "More a lady now I suppose" he thought to himself as he allowed his mind to ponder the flight of time through recent years.

Elspeth had noticed her Grandfather's eyes go out of focus and knew he was thinking of the death of her parents some 10 years past.

She had been only a year old at the time, a baby and far too young to be travelling the long distance to the capital for the mid-winter festivities. Her parents, the young Sir Joshua of Cavall and his wife the Lady Fleur had been unable to refuse the King's request to attend and so a compromise of sorts had been reached. The baby would stay behind with her grandparents at the family home whilst her parents would make a hasty visit to the capital, staying only as long as was politely required of them.

The young couple's carriage was driving through the night to try and avoid the heavy snowfalls forecast for the next day when robbers attacked after seeing their lights. It was all over very swiftly, the sheer number of robbers simply overpowering the small number of travellers, their bodies not discovered for three days after the storm let up, perfectly preserved by the icy conditions.

Lord Wyldon gave a small shudder at the memory of seeing his beloved son and wife in their death, perfect apart from small chest wounds…He shook himself back to the present and cleared his throat before again focusing on Elspeth.

"Now girl" he said gruffly, "You wish to become a knight, yes?"

Elspeth nodded silently, to nervous to give voice to her answer.

"Well, I suppose I have no real reason to deny you. It has become quite obvious that girls can become knights these days. Gods, I even trained one of them myself" he sighed.

A small squeal of excitement escaped Elspeth as she rushed towards Lord Wyldon and hugged him tight before stepping back and thanking him.

"Don't get to excited young lady, it is certainly no easy task you wish to undertake, even now there is opposition to Lady Knights, and many people, girls AND boys fail. I only hope you will uphold the family honour to the best of your ability and bring no shame on our good name" Lord Wyldon warned.

"Yes Grandfather" replied Elspeth as she dipped her head and curtsied to him.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Thankyou to Everlookingforsparks-Nat and bclovr-22, for your reviews. _

_How exciting, I certainly wasn't expecting them the first day I posted the story!_

_Elspeth is pronounced L-speth, like beth but with a sp in front of it._

_I'm glad you are both enjoying it so far___

**Chapter 2**

_Knock, knock, knock_

"Yes" called an impatient voice.

The sturdy wooden door opened to the King's private study a nervous looking page stood at the entrance.

"Well young man, what do you want?"

"Yyyour Majesty, a letter, just arrived, marked urgent from My Lord Wyldon of Cavall"

"Ah, thank you Harold, bring it in then". The king quickly scanned the missive, his face growing thoughtful as he reached the end.

"Page Harold"

"Yyyes Sire" the boy stammered.

"Fetch the training master for me; it is a matter of importance"

"Of course Your Majesty, right away" replied Harold as he backed out of the room bowing simultaneously and almost managing to run into the door before closing it.

The sound of running feet on the flagstones outside the study quickly faded into silence as the King contemplated.

"The Stump is sending his Granddaughter for page training?" laughed Lord Owen of Jesslaw, former squire to Lord Wyldon and current training master of pages at the palace in Corus. "He really has mellowed in old age hasn't he? Just wait till I tell Kel bout this one" he spluttered.

King Roald was also smiling as he regarded the training master, comparing the differences between the current man and the one who had taught himself.

Owen had only recently filled the position of Training Master; the last man had been killed y Spidrens only 3 months past. Already he had proven popular with the pages, able to relate to them in an easy manner, but still maintain enough authority to command their respect.

"Yes a good choice" thought the King as he began to discuss more mundane matters with Lord Owen before dictating a reply of affirmative to Lord Wyldon and his granddaughter.

_2 hours later – the Royal Infirmary_

"You are joking right" laughed the realm's chief healer, Duke Nealan of Queenscove. "I would never have thought it of The Stump, I mean, look what he put Kel through when she was here…" he trailed off.

"I'm pretty sure he ended up regretting that" replied Owen. "But anyway, look how well she turned out, and know she won't let anyone say a bad word about him".

"We don't call her crazy for nothing" drawled the Duke before he turned away to stem the bleeding of the man who had been rushed through the doors only moments ago.

_The next day – Cavall_

"Well Elspeth, the letter from the King and Training Master arrived today" spoke Lord Wyldon at diner, startling the girl from her meal.

"What did it say?" she asked excitedly

"You Leave Saturday for the capital, training will begin on Monday. You had best ask Amy to start packing your things. I left her with the list of requirements sent out" Wyldon replied.

"you'll need a maid, living at the Palace" he added. "I won't have you there on your own, it wouldn't be proper" he said gruffly.

"Well surely Amy…" Elspeth trailed off at the stern look in her Grandfather's eye.

"No Elspeth, Amy is getting to old to keep up with you these days, and besides, its time you got used to being away from her. I've hired you a girl from the city, you'll meet her when you arrive" said Lord Wyldon before going back to his meal and effectively ending the conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N Sorry for the massive amount of time since my last post.... time is always in demand____ Hope you like chapter 3..._

"This is the mess hall milady" The palace servant gestured through an enormous pair of oak doors, indicating the cavernous interior within. "In the old days, it used to be as the pages served the nobility what was in residence. Nowadays yours only need serve at proper functions" the old man said as he led the way to the Page's Hall d residence.

The servant knocked on the first door they came to in the large hall and after a moment it opened to reveal a comfortably curved, greying women whom he introduced as Narelle, head of the chamber maids in the Page's quarters, before returning to his post.

"Ah yes, you must be Lady Elspeth of Cavall; a few weeks later than most first years then aren't you". She didn't wait for an answer as she bustled out of her room and started down the hall, beckoning impatiently at Elspeth to follow. They wandered down the hall a ways before Narelle stopped in front of a door with Elspeth's name inscribed on the front.

"now then, this is your room milady" she paused slightly before continuing, " We have found over the years that is easier for the female pages such as yourself to have the locks spelled so that they only open to your voice". Narelle touched the door knob with a hand that glowed faint silver before indicating that Elspeth should speak. "Open please" she said softly and heard the locks click.

"Very nice and polite milady" Narelle said as se opened the door, "None but you and your maid shall be able to unlock the door now".

Behind the door was a small room, sparsely furnished with a single bed, clothes press, weapons rack and wash stand. There was a small room off to the left hand side of the basin that was to be her maid's room; her luggage was piled at the foot of the bed waiting unpacking.

"Now your maid has not yet…" Narelle broke off at the sound of loud footsteps rushing down the hall and stopping outside the still open door. Elspeth and the chamber maid turned to look at the new arrival and saw an out of breath looking girl who seemed to be around 15 years of age.

"I'm so s-sorry milady" the girl gasped out. "I hadn't realised you would arrive so soon or I would've had your things unpacked by now for sure" she finished. "Oh where are my manners; my name is Jane, milady, your Grandfather hired me to look after you here. I do hope you will be satisfied with me" she finished in a rush.

"How nice to meet you Jane" Elspeth spoke in a quiet yet firm voice. "This is Narelle; she is the house keeper of the page's wing. Please make sure you mind what she says as well as myself and I am sure we will have no worries."

Jane and Narelle both bobbed a curtsy in Elspeth's direction.

"If you have any trouble let me know" reminded Narelle as she left the room and walked back down the hallway.

"Would you like to go to the baths Milady, after such a long journey?" asked Jane looking at the travel stained state of Elspeth's clothing.

"Gods I would kill for a bath right now, but I've time only for a quick wash and change before I need to go and make myself known to the training master"

_*The Training Master's Office*_

Lord Owen looked up from his lunch at the sound of a knock on his door. "Come in" he commanded as he half stood to brush the bread crumbs from his tunic. He straightened as he caught sight of the young lady being bowed into the room by his secretary.

"Ahh, you can only be the Lady Elspeth" Lord Owen stated as Elspeth straightened from her curtsy catching sight of her sparkling green eyes.

"Why yes, I am, and very pleased to make your acquaintance Lord Owen. May I say how grateful I am for you allowing me to begin training." Replied Elspeth.

Glad that you've arrived young lady" he started, as he gestured she sit in the chair opposite his desk. "So your grandfather, my old training and knight master has decided that you may commence training then? Excellent" he paused before continuing on "I'm afraid there are only a few other female pages in training at the moment and all of them are in the last years of training so you will be the only first year.

He looked at her with piercing eyes, taking in average height, slender body and small frame. Her long brown hair was tightly braided and fell half way down her back. She was, he thought, the image of her mother Fleur, and, as all Wyldon's girls were similar, the image of his first love and bride of ten months Margarry before she had died in child birth along with their son whom he had never known.

The sound of a bell tolling shook him out of his silent memories and he spoke gruffly to the girl who was watching him expectantly "That was the dinner bell, you know where the mess hall is I presume so off you go and I will see you there." He stood and walked over to the door opening it for her and closing it behind her as she left.

He tidied his desk for a minute before exiting his office and making his way to the mess hall where the noise level dropped perceptively as he entered and made his way to the dais at the front where he ate with the rest of the teachers. After a quick prayed to Mithros to give thanks for their food he began eating, smiling ever so slightly as he observed the pages devouring their food as though they had not eaten in weeks when he knew for a fact it had only been a few hours since their last meal.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N Again...Sorry for the massive amount of time since my last post.... time is always in demand____ Hope you like chapter 4._

"A quick reminder before you leave the hall boys and girls" Lord Owen spoke clearly over the scaping of chairs and the clatter of cutlery as trays were emptied "I expect to see you all in the main Page's hall in exactly 1 and a ½ bells time. Be prompt or expect to spend a lot of time with me." With that he turned and left the hall.

Elspeth stood from the table she had eaten her dinner at and followed the other first years to the place they stacked their dirty plates to be washed by palace maids. As she made her way from the mess hall back to her room she was surrounded by a large group of boys all rough-housing and laughing loudly. Elspeth smiled at a few of them as they passed her by when one detached himself from the group and made his way over.

"Rupert of Land's End, and you are?" the boy enquired. Elspeth took a moment to study the boy and saw he was of average height, just a little taller than her, with thick brown hair and deep brown eyes. His solid frame was clothed in what looked to be high quality fabrics, and Elspeth knew Land's End to be a reasonably wealthy fiefdom. "Elspeth of Cavall" she quickly replied, hoping the by hadn't noticed her quick once over.

"Ah, Lord Wyldon's grand-daughter, we've been expecting you. Some of the die-hard conservatives almost feel of their rockers when they heard Wyldon was letting you attend training! I certainly gave mother a good laugh." He finished on a laughing note "You may have heard of her, formerly Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan".

Elspeth gasped "Oh goodness, it must be hard growing up with a legend! N-no offence intended."

"None taken; it wasn't so hard for me, I was a 'surprise' baby, definitely unexpected and by that stage of her life she was more at home than she was with my brothers. There has always been a joke in my family that Sakuyo laughed whenever Mother fell pregnant because she only ever had boys!" Replied Rupert.

"This is my room" said Elspeth as they walked through the page's wing. "It was nice meeting you Rupert, see you soon."

As Elspeth shut the door behind herself, she breathed a sigh of relief that so far things were going well, she had even made a new friend already. Yes, things were definitely looking up.

_To My Lord Wyldon of Cavall_

_From Lady Elspeth of Cavall_

_Dearest Grandfather,_

_I have safely arrived at the Palace and have settled into the Page's wing most successfully. I would like to thank you for having found such a delightful maid. Jane is only a few years older than myself, however she seems to have a lovely nature and I am sure that we will get along just fine._

_I have recently met the child one, of your former pages. Rupert of Land's End is the youngest son of Lady Knight Keladry of Land's End, formerly of Mindelan. He seems a nice boy and I feel that we shall become friends, he has already offered to show me around the palace which I greatly appreciated._

_Lord Owen the training master was very welcoming to me when we met this afternoon, although he did look at me strangely for the shortest of moments... How mysterious!_

_I do hope you are well Grandfather and are keeping busy at home. I am missing you quite a bit but don't worry, I intend to see this page training business out!_

_Please send my regards to Amy, I hope the winter chill is not affecting her joints too badly._

_Much love to you Grandfather,_

_Elspeth._

After Elspeth has blotted the parchment that the letter was written on, she folded it in three and melted some wax to seal it, pressing her stamp into the wax firmly before it set.

"Jane" she called, "Please see that this letter is with the next post heading in the direction of Cavall will you?"

"Yes Milady" Jane replied.

"Excellent, now it's time to meet the rest of the Pages, I'll be back soon." And with that remark, Elspeth stood and strode out of her room to wait in the hall with the other first years.


End file.
